Whitehouse Weekly Bulletin

Friday 10th May 2024

A Message from Miss Siddall

We are currently in the process of organising classes for next year and we hope to let you know all arrangements before the transition events on the 26th June (afternoon) and 27th June (morning). These transition sessions are very important as they provide the children with the opportunity to meet their new teachers before the summer holidays.  As in previous years, careful consideration will be given to the needs of the children and we intend to reorganise some class groups. We will keep you updated on any planned changes.   Thank you for your support.

Attendance for the previous week:

Class with the best attendance: Tigers (98.75%)

Assemblies

The theme of our assemblies for next week will be: Mental Health Awareness Week: What is Mental Health?  (UNRC: Article 3: All adults should always do what is best for me).  Resources related to this assembly will soon be available on our website.  To access them, go to Learning and click on our Enquiry Based Assemblies.

Year 6: SATs

Next week our Year 6 children will sit their KS2 SATs.  The children have worked extremely hard all year and have shown amazing courage and perseverance in their learning.  They have made fantastic progress and have shown themselves to be a wonderful cohort.  We wish them all the best next week and are very proud of them.  Good luck Year 6!

Term-Time Holidays

We are aware that as the weather gets warmer, many families are looking forward to taking holidays together.  We have received many requests for permission for families to take term-time holidays.  Due to the Government drive to improve attendance, we are unable to authorise these and in the majority of cases fines will be issued for term-time holidays.  However, as you know, we teach your children to be honest and this is our number one golden rule as well as a key value in school.  Therefore, we always appreciate parents/carers filling in the forms asking for permission, even when these do result in fines being issued. If we become aware that you are on holiday during term-time, we will proceed with issuing penalty notices.  As part of our rigorous attendance procedures we look for patterns of absence with siblings and other family members and will investigate unusual patterns of absence (for example if all siblings are absent all week with a stomach upset).  Thank you for your support for our Golden Rules.

Awards

As you may be aware, the children are encouraged to follow ‘The Whitehouse Way’ in school to help them in their learning and in becoming good citizens. Our ‘Wonderful Week’ awards this year will be given as a recognition that the children have worked very hard in one of these areas:  Courage, Perseverance, Reflection or Responsibility.  This will be shown in the colour coded lists below.  We are so proud of our children at Whitehouse and their wonderful achievements.  Well done to you all.

EYFS:

Key Stage 1:

Lower Key Stage 2:

Upper Key Stage 2:

Attendance: Duck Race Winners

Well done to the winners of our Duck Races last week:

Readers’ Cup

Well done to the following classes who won the Readers’ Cup last week:

Nursery Spaces - September

We are pleased to let you know that we will have some spaces in our popular Nursery from September 2024.  We offer spaces for 15 hours a week (5 mornings, 8.30am to 11.30am) and accept children from the term after their 3^rd birthday. 

If you would like more information please contact the school office and ask to speak to Mrs Vikki Jousiffe who will be able to assist. 

Lost Uniform

As you may be aware we held a ‘Helping Hands’ event last week where parents/carers were able to come and get spare uniform items for free.  We did this event as we had so many items of uniform that were not named and could not be returned to the child.  The photo shows just how many items we had for just two age groups! Please can we ask parents/carers to ensure that ALL items of clothing are named, so if they do get mislaid at school we can ensure they are returned quickly.  Thank you for your co-operation.

Family Breakfast

A reminder that we will not be holding our popular Family Breakfast on Monday 13^th May 2024, due to the Year 6 SATs taking place.  These will resume on Monday 20^th May 2024 and we look forward to seeing you there.

Healthy Eating: Idea for a Main Meal – Chicken Stir Fry 

Ingredients:

200g noodles of choice (spaghetti also works)

2 cloves garlic

Chunk of ginger

1 tbsp sesame oil (or vegetable oil)

1-2 fresh peppers

1 carrot

1 onion

300g chicken

1 tbsp natural peanut butter

Bring a saucepan of water to boil and cook the noodles (following the packet instructions). 

Wash, peel and chop the vegetables into small pieces.  Peel and finely chop the garlic and ginger.

Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat.  If using meat, add at this stage in small strips and cook for 5-10 mins until brown, then remove.  If not add garlic, ginger and vegetables to the pan to cook for a few mins.

If using eggs, whisk the eggs together in a bowl, move the veg to the side of the pan, creating a gap, add the eggs to the gap and slowly stir to create a scrambled effect.  Then mix with the vegetables.  If using meat, add it back to the pan at this stage.  Add in the noodles and mix well.

Add a dash of soy sauce (you may want to remove your child’s portion before adding this!).

Serving Suggestion:  This will feed 3-4 people.  You can add other vegetables such as spring onions, mushrooms, peas or broccoli.  You can also add 3-4 eggs to the mix instead of using meat.

Why not give it a go this week and let us know on Tapestry or tell your class teacher.

Football Weekend

We are sure you are all as excited as we were to hear that Ipswich Town Football Club were promoted to the Premier League last week.  Thank you to all those who shared photos of your children and families enjoying the event.

As well as the main team, Ipswich Women’s Team also played at the weekend and we really enjoyed seeing Millie’s photo.  Millie was able to not only watch the match but met Lenna Gunning-Williams who gave her a pair of her football boots, signed!  What a lovely treat!  Well done Millie.   

Special Menu – Thursday 16^th May 2024

We are having a special menu next Thursday, which contains foods the children always enjoy.  The menu will be:

Pork Sausage or Vegan Quorn Sausage

Served with Chips, Peas or Baked Beans

Dessert: Rocket Ice Lolly

It is a great day for your child to try a school dinner if they do not normally have one.

Year 5/6 Boys Football

Last Wednesday the Year 5/6 boys football team were back in action as they hosted Springfield Primary School for their final league match of the year. The game was a very competitive one with both teams giving their all to continually close down and win back the ball for their team. As a result, both teams enjoyed good spells of possession and created a number of chances to score. After a quickly taken throw in and through ball by Springfield, the boys found themselves a goal behind at half time. However, the boys were not deterred and continued to play some fantastic football throughout the second half, dominating large spells of the game. The boys again created some fantastic opportunities in front of goal with some excellent link up and build up play. As a result, Springfield ‘s goal keeper was the busier of the two keepers and was called into action several times throughout the second half, pulling off some fine saves to prevented the boys’ from finding the back of the net and levelling the game. The boys continued to pile the pressure on towards the end of the game, however the game unfortunately finished with a 1-0 win to Springfield. Despite being disappointed with the end result in their final game of the season, the boys were pleased with the standard of football they played. Mr Jordan was full of praise for the boys, and very proud of the effort and overall team performance throughout the match.

Year 5/6 Girls Football

On Tuesday this week, it was the turn of the Year 5/6 girls football team to host Castle Hill in their next league match. Continuing to build on their confidence and developing their understanding of playing together as a team, the girls were extremely excited to take to the pitch. As a result, the girls started the match on the front foot, taking the game to Castle Hill with very high pressing and attacking football. Despite the initial pressure from the girls, Castle Hill soon settled into the match and also battled to win back the ball and create their own opportunities to attack. However, some fantastic defensive work and tackling from all the girls prevented Castle Hill from creating clear shooting opportunities in front of goal. The girls hard work and excellent attacking teamwork paid off with a fantastic goal from Tilly just before the end of the first half. The second half continued to be just as competitive and evenly matched as the first half, with both teams working extremely hard in attack and defense. Chances in front of goal throughout the second half from Kezia, Emily, Ivy and Tilly almost extended the girls lead. At the other end of the pitch, some fantastic saves from McKenzie in goal and excellent tackles and defensive clearances from Laycee, Sophia, Lexi and Scarlett ensured that the girls finished the match with their first win of the season!  Mr Jordan was extremely impressed with the performance and effort of each and every one of the girls. As result, Mr Jordan’s ‘Player of the Match’ went to the entire team! Well done girls.

Online Safety: Get Smart about Smartphones

Did you know that ‘Internet Matters’ have some great advice for parents/carers about staying on top of your child’s mobile phone, along with advice about setting up the phone and many other tips?   It can be accessed here: https://www.internetmatters.org/setupsafe/.  There are lots of useful videos such as those shown below.

Dates for the Diary

Monday 13^th May 2024 to Thursday 16^th May 2024 – Year 6 SATs Week

Thursday 16^th May 2024 – Year 5 Parent/Carer Art Session – 2.15pm

Monday 20^th May 2024 – Family Breakfast – 8.00am

Tuesday 21^st May 2024 – Year 4 Parent/Carer DT Sewing Session – 1.30pm-3.00pm

Thursday 23^rd May 2024 – Reception – Easton Farm Park

Monday 27^th May 2024 to Friday 31^st May 2024 – Half Term Holiday

Monday 3^rd June 2024 – PD Day (Children not in school)

Tuesday 4^th June 2024 – Year 4 Victorian School – Foxes Class

Wednesday 5^th June 2024 – Year 4 Victorian School – Hedgehogs Class

Wednesday 5^th June 2024 – Nursery and Reception Sports Day

Thursday 6^th June 2024 – Year 6 Crucial Crew

Thursday 6^th June 2024 – Year 4 Victorian School – Squirrels Class

Thursday 6^th June 2024 – Years 1, 2 and 3 Sports Day

Friday 7^th June 2024 – Years 4, 5, and 6 Sports Day

Monday 24^th June 2024 to Tuesday 25^th June 2024 – Year 6 Residential Trip at Mersea

Wednesday 26^th June 2024 – School Transition Afternoon

Thursday 27^th June 2024 – School Transition Morning

Friday 5^th July 2024 – EYFS Afternoon Tea for new Reception children (Sept 2024 intake)

Friday 5^th July 2024 – Summer Fair

Friday 12^th July 2024 – End of year reports home

Tuesday 16^th July 2024 – Year 6 Production

Thursday 18^th July 2024 – Y6 Leavers BBQ

Friday 19^th July 2024 – Y6 Leavers Assembly – Parents / Carers invited

Friday 19^th July 2024 – Last day of the Summer Term

Monday 22^nd July 2024 to Friday 30^th August 2024 – Summer Holiday

Monday 2^nd September 2024 – PD Day (Children are not in school)

Tuesday 3^rd September 2024 - PD Day (Children are not in school)

Wednesday 4^th September 2024 – First day of Autumn Term